Maheshwara Puja in Arunachalam
May Bhagavati Annapurnesvari nourish the Hunger of one and all and give us more opportunities to perform Maheswara Puja.
Maheswara puja is an act of offering Anna(Food) to the supreme lord who dwells in the hearts of Sadhus and Yati’s. God often chooses a humanly form in the disguise of sadhus and yatis when visiting the earthly plane to accept food and other offerings that are made. The sacred ritual of Maheswara puja involves feeding of sadhus with bhojana prasadam, honouring them with dakshina and obtaining their blessings.
Sastras speak highly of Anna daanam mentioning “Annam Para brahma Swarupam” and “Anna Daanam Mahadaanam” meaning Food is God and the greatest act of charity that one can do is in feeding and satiating the Hungry through Bhojana prasada which is infact a puja to the supreme lord Maheswara. The puranas highly extol the merits of performing Anna Danam and this gets amplified if it is done in a Kshetra like Arunachala Giri. Several references can be found in the ancient Indian sacred literature, specially the Arunachala Mahatyam on the merits of performing Anna daanam to Sadhus at Arunachalam It is mentioned here that the merits of offering anna prasadam to a million people in kasi kshetra can be obtained by offering Anna parasda to a single person in Aruncahala kshetra.. Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi an advaitin of the highest order who transcended the bodily awareness still emphasized the importance and the resulting merits of performing Anna danam.
Gaja turaga Sahasram | Gokulam koti danam |
Kanaka Rajatha patram | Methini sagarantham |
Upaya kula vishuttam | Koti kanya pradanam |
Nahi nahi bahu danam| Annadanam samanam ||
The importance of anna danam is aptly summarized through this sloka. Donation of 1000 elephants / horses; or 10 million cows; or any number of precious ornaments; or donation of entire land till sea; or offering the entire services of the clan; or help in the marriage of 10 million women, all this is never never equal to Annadanam
Thanks to generous funds from donors, NITYAGNI has started organizing NITYA ANNA DAANA CAMPS /Maheswara puja on a regular basis from mid of July 2022. With the blessings of our Gurus and your continued support and patronage, we hope to continue this in the long run and we cannot thank you enough for all your invaluable contributions.
May Bhagavati Annapurnesvari nourish the Hunger of one and all and give us more opportunities to perform Maheswara Puja.
